


4 Times Fraser Wished His Father Could Have Been There

by dessert_first



Series: And Baby Makes Four [1]
Category: due South
Genre: 5 Things, 5 Times, F/M, Kid Fic, M/M, Multi, Threesome, Threesome - F/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-22
Updated: 2013-12-22
Packaged: 2018-01-05 13:23:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1094344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dessert_first/pseuds/dessert_first
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pinch-hit for Seramirez. Happy holidays!</p>
            </blockquote>





	4 Times Fraser Wished His Father Could Have Been There

**Author's Note:**

  * For [seramirez (boxofdelights)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/boxofdelights/gifts).



**4.  
Caroline's College Graduation**

Fraser watches his daughter walk across the stage to get her diploma, and if his vision seems a bit blurry, he could always just put that down to age. His sister Maggie sits beside him and Ray is at his other side, Elaine next, their son Nico beside her in a gangly teenage sprawl. All five of them are holding hands, a linked chain of family.

Maggie flew in with her husband from up North for the occasion, and the rest of their row seems almost filled with Elaine and Ray's parents and siblings. 

Caroline is the first person in Fraser's family to attend college, and he likes to think his father would have been proud. Caroline is beaming as she strides across the stage in her toga and mortarboard, accepting her diploma and handshake, and her smile is the best of Elaine and Ray and Fraser all put together. 

Fraser has known many blessings in his years with Ray and Elaine, but this seems to test the limits of what he can take--his chest seems to be too small to physically contain the sheer volume of emotions. So much pride in his little girl, happiness at her achievements, warmth at being surrounded by the family that has sprung up seemingly out of nothing and no one, and beneath it all a kind of breathless wonder at how quickly it's all gone by, a bittersweet sadness at this most concrete evidence that Caroline is a woman, fully grown, ready to go make her own way in the world, make her own mistakes and achievements. He can only hope she is a lucky as Fraser has been, and that she always knows they will be there for her, all of them, her family.

Ray turns to Fraser, beaming, hugging Elaine close, and Maggie squeezes Fraser's hand and Nico grins.

He could just put down the blurriness in his vision to age, but he won't.

 

**3.  
Nico's First Heartbreak**

"Why couldn't it be me?" Nico asks in a choked voice. "Why couldn't we _make it_ work?"

Fraser thinks a lot of things. He thinks _sometimes it just doesn't work, no matter how much you want it to,_ and _anyone who doesn't want you is a fool_ , and _there is someone wonderful out there waiting for you_ , and _someday you will be happy again_ and other such things, but he knows that's not what Nico wants to hear.

"I don't know, son," Fraser says softly instead, a storm of words held back beneath his tongue. 

It feels like his own heart is breaking too, as if he's caught pain like a virus, just from being near his son's hurts and unable to make them go away like he could when Nico was little and his problems were small and easily fixed.

He wonders if this is how his own father felt when he witnessed Fraser's heartbreak over Victoria. He couldn't help Fraser; nobody could help. But he was there, and that meant something, and Fraser wishes he could thank him now that he knows. Now that he understands.

Instead he holds Nico and lets him sob, strokes his strong, narrow back and presses a kiss into the wild tangle of his night-dark hair.

 

**2.  
Maggie's Wedding**

In lieu of their father, Fraser walks Maggie down the aisle for her second wedding. He is grateful he can do that much for her, considering neither his father nor Fraser himself knew about Maggie's existence at the time of her first wedding. This one is a modest affair in a simple church in Maggie's hometown, with friends and family both local and come to visit for the occasion.

Elaine and Ray are in the pews, sitting with Elaine's mother, Carmen. All three of them seem to be dividing their attention between watching Fraser and Maggie make their way down the aisle and mouthing encouragement to the children standing at the front by the altar. Little Caroline had gravely carried out her flower girl duties with a slow, deliberate pace loaded with seven-year-old solemnity all the way down the aisle, followed by Nico in a ridiculously tiny set of dress pants, shirt and vest, hanging onto the ring cushion with all his considerable four-year-old might.

At the altar, Fraser kisses his sister's cheek and departs, then crowds next to Elaine in their pew, smiling widely at the children. He hopes the ceremony is fast enough to prevent the worst of the fidgeting and avoid any possible ring casualties.

Afterwards one of Maggie's friends takes the wedding pictures, Maggie in her simple ivory gown and her new husband Frank in his dove grey suit and tie, with and without the rest of the wedding party and various combinations of their respective family members. Fraser is amongst the last to be released from duty and he goes over to join Nico, Elaine and her mother at their table. 

"Beautiful ceremony," Elaine remarks. She is luminous in a pale blue sheath dress, dark blue heels and her hair partly swept up, the rest left to cascade in curls down her back. Nico sits on her lap, coloring in the book his grandmother wisely brought for him. 

Caroline is making a bid to rule the dance floor, twirling in her brand new dress, the wide ribbon sash flying out as she spins. Ray is dancing with her in his shirtsleeves, tie loosened and jacket long shed. He is alternating between picking Caroline up to dance her along to the music and setting her down to twirl with her.

Eventually they come back to the table, flushed with the exertion and wearing matching grins. 

"Did you see me Papa?" Caroline asks, clambering into Fraser's lap.

"I certainly did," Fraser says, and kisses her nose. "That was some truly excellent twirling."

Caroline beams and helps herself to Fraser's glass of water, gulping some down noisily.

Out on the dance floor, Maggie and Frank are dancing, held close and staring at each other like there is no one else in the room. Elaine watches them with a little smile.

"I think Papa, Mom, Nico and Grandma all need to do some twirling too, don't you, kiddo?" Ray asks, winking at Carmen and Elaine.

"Yeah!" Caroline bounces.

"Why Ray Kowalski, I thought you'd never ask!" Carmen smiles. Ray gallantly helps her out of her chair and she scoops Nico up from Elaine's lap to head for the dance floor.

Carmen dances with Nico on her hip, Elaine grabs Ray and Fraser swings Caroline up. 

Eventually Maggie makes her way over to steal Caroline for a dance, and Ray takes advantage of the lull to pull Elaine and Fraser aside to a quiet corner.

"So hey," he says, "Nice wedding."

"Beautiful," Elaine smiles.

"Yes, lovely," Fraser agrees, watching his children be spun around. He can tell Nico is getting sleepy; they'll have to put him to bed soon.

"Yeah," Ray says. "So, uh. Any regrets?"

"Regrets, Ray?" Fraser asks, puzzled.

"All this," Ray waves his hand out, encompassing the little reception hall, the dancers, the wedding cake in the corner yet to be cut. "You guys know, don't you--I'd give you all this if I could. I'm sorry you don't get to have it. I mean, believe me, I had it with Stella and it don't guarantee nothing, but I know some people--"

"Ray," Elaine says. "You and Ben and Nico and Caroline are the best thing that ever happened to me. If I could have imagined something this wonderful when I was a little girl--well, you would have made all my dreams come true."

"This is lovely, but Ray," Fraser shakes his head. "I honestly can't imagine how you could possibly give me anything better than the life we all share. You have to know that."

"Yeah," Ray says, and all three of them crowd in close. "Yeah, just checking, I guess."

Eventually Ray heads off to collect Nico and herd him off to bed at the little guesthouse they are staying at. Carmen takes Caroline and they all say their goodbyes, kissing and congratulating the bride and groom.

"Thanks, Big Brother," Maggie whispers when Fraser hugs her goodbye.

Fraser swallows, his throat suddenly tight. Much like Fraser himself was, Maggie had been alone in the world--when they found each other, they found a connection to roots they both thought had gone forever with the deaths of their parents. Fraser would like to think, if their father had been here, he would have been just as proud to walk Maggie down the aisle, to accompany her into a new life with her chosen partner.

"I was honored," Fraser says, and leans into the hug for just a little longer. "He would have been so proud of you."

 

**1.  
The Day the Kowalskis Met Caroline**

"Well, how do you know it wasn't the Canadian?" Damian asks suspiciously, staring at the little blanket-wrapped bundle sleeping peacefully in Elaine's arms. "I mean, you three, you all--" he waves a hand vaguely, looking supremely uncomfortable.

"The Canadian has a name, dear," Barbara says, sitting next to Elaine on the sofa and leaning over to coo at the baby. "Who's a sweetums? Who's Grandma's little sweetums?"

Elaine beams.

"That's the point, Dad," Ray says again, running a hand through his hair. "We're not gonna find out, that doesn't matter, we're both the dad, that's the deal!"

"So she _could_ be the Canadian's."

"She _is_ Fraser's, Dad, and she's Elaine's, and she's mine, too! That's our kid," Ray says, voice suddenly rough. "I've got a kid." 

"So is she my granddaughter or not?" Damian asks.

"Of course she's your granddaughter, Dad. My kids are always gonna be your grandkids, that's--that's how it works."

Damian stares at his wife doting over Elaine and the baby, at Fraser standing almost at attention next to them, at his son looking happy and proud and defiant and... And, Fraser thinks. And hopeful.

Suddenly, Damian yanks Ray into a hug, reaching up to pound the taller man on the back. "You've got at kid!" he says, voice gone as rough as his son's.

Ray latches onto his father and doesn't let go, and Fraser is studiously inspecting the living room curtains when Elaine reaches over and grabs his hand, a soft look of sympathy on her face.

 

**+  
And One Time Under No Circumstances Whatsoever Would He Want His Father to Have Been There**

"Shut up."

"You shut up."

"You started it!"

"You were doing that thing."

"You love that thing!"

"I do not love that thing when the kids are sleeping!"

"When the kids are sleeping is the only time I _get_ to do that thing!"

"I'm just saying if we wake them up, then you _really_ can't do that thing."

"Oh, my God," Ray sits up on the bed, his eyes wide. His hair is standing up all over the place, rumpled from where Elaine had been grabbing at him with her usual lack of finesse when he--well, when he did that thing. "Oh, my God, I am never getting to do that thing again. Until I'm eighty. Or I'm dead."

"Or until the children turn eighteen and move out of the house," Fraser remarks.

"That is not funny!" Ray turns to Fraser, jabbing two fingers in his direction. "What the fuck--"

"Language," Fraser says mildly, and Elaine snickers behind Ray's back.

"What. The. _Fuck,_ " Ray says deliberately, "is the point of being in a crazy hot threesome if there is no crazy hot threesome action?"

"Babe," Elaine says reasonably. "I just said we have to be quiet, and I can't be quiet when you do that thing. We can just have really _quiet_ crazy hot threesome action."

Ray glares at them both. "I feel you are missing something inherent to the concept of crazy hot threesome action."

"Crazy hot child-rearing?" Fraser asks. "Crazy hot laundry?"

"Crazy hot sleep deprivation?" Elaine pitches in. "Crazy hot cupboards full of baby supplies? Crazy hot convenience store runs at three in the morning because we ran out of baby supplies? Crazy hot breast pump machines so we can store--?"

"Okay, you know what, wise guys?" Ray asks. "If _you_ ," he points at Elaine, "cannot be quiet while I do that thing, then _you_ " he jabs at Fraser, "will just have to find a way to keep her quiet. Be creative. Think outside the box."

Elaine suddenly grins like a Cheshire cat, and reaches over to haul Ray in her direction, scrambling into his lap and wrapping her arms around his neck, pressing her especially ample post-baby breasts into his chest as she kisses him. "I like the way you think," she says breathlessly, the words barely audible as they are swallowed up in the kiss. Her hand snakes its way into Fraser's lap, her graceful fingers tracing the shape of Fraser's cock through his pajamas.

"Daddy!" calls out a little voice down the hall. "Daddy, can I have a glass of water?"

Ray breaks the kiss, gasping for air. "Be right there, kiddo!" he calls out, and scrambles off the bed, gently scooping Elaine off of his lap and into Fraser's.

Forty-five minutes, two glasses of water, a bedtime story and a lullaby for baby Nico later, Ray comes back into the bedroom to do that thing.

He is very pleased to discover that Fraser and Elaine have already started in on creative solutions to the sound issue.


End file.
